Everything... project Leonardo/Prima class!

[SakeDad]

41 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Words were exchanged by a gentleman who was in line a few in front of us to the group of 6 that expanded to 12 after the second couple came up and then again after the third couple came up. 

Is it the right thing to have 1 person stand in line and then have 5 others join a few minutes prior to the doors opening....no, far from it.  Can people do it since there is one lone female employee doing crowd control, of course.  Luckily this was the only instance over the course of the 10 shows that we saw.

 

I was just glad that on the Prima the Haven occupants did not get escorted in before those staying in steerage did.

You say it's not right 1 person can stand in line for multiple guests...why not? Where is this written? Will you say the same for families reserving pool chairs for HOURS with towels? 

[SakeDad]

7 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Different people like different things.  We didn't mind putting in the time since they were the best entertainment on the ship by a long run. You can only eat so much and drink so much so standing for 90 minutes to obtain the best seats was OK for us.

Light Balance, Press Your Luck, Supermarket Sweep and Beat the Clock were all entertainment choices mentioned by NCL that never came to fruition and Noise Boys is also already gone with no replacement. The other musical choices on board were ok, but nothing compared to the 4 singers and 4 musicians at Syd's.

And not going at you personally...just questioning the reasoning 

[CruizinSusan70]

11 minutes ago, SakeDad said:

You say it's not right 1 person can stand in line for multiple guests...why not? Where is this written? Will you say the same for families reserving pool chairs for HOURS with towels? 

Chair hogs are not right, just like 5 people showing up for a show a few minutes before doors open while a single family member waiting in line.  There is nothing written, but it's common courtesy to do the right thing and far too many people don't do it often enough.  Especially in the buffet when non handicapped people occupy handicapped seats.

[CruizinSusan70]

9 minutes ago, SakeDad said:

And not going at you personally...just questioning the reasoning 

The reasoning about what?   Standing in line to wait for a good seat?

[EPTCB]

39 minutes ago, SakeDad said:

You say it's not right 1 person can stand in line for multiple guests...why not? Where is this written? Will you say the same for families reserving pool chairs for HOURS with towels? 

Why ask the question if you don't want to hear the answer? As CruisinSusan70 says, there is a difference between being able to get away with doing something and having that something be the courteous thing to do. Common etiquette isn't always stated in writing so if you only refrain from things that are expressly prohibited, you should be just fine.

[SakeDad]

6 minutes ago, EPTCB said:

Why ask the question if you don't want to hear the answer? As CruisinSusan70 says, there is a difference between being able to get away with doing something and having that something be the courteous thing to do. Common etiquette isn't always stated in writing so if you only refrain from things that are expressly prohibited, you should be just fine.

Great response. Thank you. So now my question is what (or who) stops 1 person from standing I  in line for multiple guests? If everyone is in line 90 minutes that is lots of food, drink, jewelry, etc sales they are losing out on

 

 

Edited March 16, 2023 by SakeDad

[Wendy&Grumpy]

3 hours ago, SakeDad said:

So now my question is what (or who) stops 1 person from standing I  in line for multiple guests? 

 

 

Common courtesy. You'll see those who don't possess it doing just that. 

Edited March 16, 2023 by Wendy&Grumpy

[sportscruiser]

 I know I wouldn't be happy if that happened to me after waiting 90 minutes. However, if they all showed up at the beginning and then some of them left here and there to go get food, drinks, etc. I wouldn't be upset. Especially if they mention it to the non-group person behind them in line. At least you'd KNOW early on that there were that many people in front of you....

[cheer25mom]

8 hours ago, SakeDad said:

Great response. Thank you. So now my question is what (or who) stops 1 person from standing I  in line for multiple guests? If everyone is in line 90 minutes that is lots of food, drink, jewelry, etc sales they are losing out on

 

 

Just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you SHOULD. Its unfair to those behind you in line, plain and simple. NCL likely won't stop you, but that doesn't make it the right thing to do. 

[SGCruiser2013]

It's an interesting topic of "line saving". I dunno to me it's not quite the same as chair hogging or taking someone's handicapped seating. But I'm not as protocol-experienced in this area as many of you fine folks! 

 

I would think maybe proportion comes into play here? Like the 1 person who saves for 6, but then the 6 let in 6 more, so it's 1 saver for 12 people...I can see how that would be frowned upon. But if it's 2 people that take turns in/out of line (particularly with 90 minute or 2-hour wait?), that would seem different. Or, if the late joiners are my older parents who might have difficulty standing for 2 hrs. I could see that. 

 

Chair hogs? Nah. Handi-stealers? Nope! But me plunking down and reading the Cruise Critic boards while saving a line space for DW at Syd's so she doesn't wait the full 2 hours...well at least she wouldn't be mad at me about it! 🙂

[The Traveling Man]

On 3/6/2023 at 8:27 PM, BenCoudon said:

Everyone is entitled to his opinion.  I presume that people that didn't experience issues with the size of the buffet, the indulge food hall and the locals were sailing on the Prima after she arrived in the Caribean.  I sailed the back to back Copenhagen to Southampton and then to New York city vial Iceland.  For the first cruise, we had no space issues as we were sailing under 50% capacity.  But the TA was a totally different story.  As the weather was cold and rainy, it was not possible to eat outside.  For the buffet, it was very difficult to find a place to sit between 7:30 am and 9:00.  And I don't consider the food hall being a good alternative as, for breakfast, it is "grab and go".  My preference is not pre-prepared food.  For the locals, again before we were not able to use the outdoor space, on several sea days, there was a 45 minutes line-up for lunch.  Similar situation with the Food hall.  It was fully packed for lunch.  Speaking of space, although the 3 level atrium is beautiful,  there are almost no space to sit except at the Whisky bar on deck 8.  If you need to go to the internet cafe, good luck.  It is squeezed behind the Starbucks.  As for the observation lounge on deck 17, it has 1/3 of the size of the one on the Encore. Most of the space was allocated to the Galaxy Pavillion.  The Prima as many nice features.  I really enjoyed the cabins.  I already cancelled my bookings on the Viva and unless the itinerary is exceptionnal in a warm climate area, I will not sail her again

Ben, your recollection of the Copenhagen to Southampton cruise is different from mine.  Most of that cruise was in Norway and most days it was either too cold, too windy, or too rainy to make use of the outdoor seating at the food hall, the buffet, or the specialty restaurants.  Especially in the food hall, the ship design relies heavily on outdoor seating to provide adequate space for the expected number of passengers who wish to eat there.  I don't recall the precise number of passengers on that voyage, but it seemed like it was more than 50% capacity.  I do recall the absolute cluster flop of a mess upon disembarking in Southampton.  Much of the problem could be attributed to UK Customs, but the Prima crew seemed to be doing nothing to alleviate the situation.  I do agree with you that the observation lounge is woefully undersized for a ship with that many passengers.  Several of the venues, such as the internet cafe which you mentioned, are shoehorned into odd nooks and crannies.

[BenCoudon]

1 hour ago, The Traveling Man said:

Ben, your recollection of the Copenhagen to Southampton cruise is different from mine.  Most of that cruise was in Norway and most days it was either too cold, too windy, or too rainy to make use of the outdoor seating at the food hall, the buffet, or the specialty restaurants.  Especially in the food hall, the ship design relies heavily on outdoor seating to provide adequate space for the expected number of passengers who wish to eat there.  I don't recall the precise number of passengers on that voyage, but it seemed like it was more than 50% capacity.  I do recall the absolute cluster flop of a mess upon disembarking in Southampton.  Much of the problem could be attributed to UK Customs, but the Prima crew seemed to be doing nothing to alleviate the situation.  I do agree with you that the observation lounge is woefully undersized for a ship with that many passengers.  Several of the venues, such as the internet cafe which you mentioned, are shoehorned into odd nooks and crannies.

I did not talk about the Norway weather.  We all agree that it was far than optimal.  I said that the reason we did not had space issue was because we were far to be at full capacity.  I confirmed with one officer and also with the Haven concierge that we were just shy of 2300 passengers on the Copenhagen to Southampton cruise.  So it was about 55% full.  For the disembarking in Southampton, I can't comment as I continued to New York City.  But totally agree with you that for the later part of the cruise (Amsterdam, Bruges and Le Havre, weather was really too cold to use the outdoor area for meals.  

[The Traveling Man]

59 minutes ago, BenCoudon said:

I did not talk about the Norway weather.  We all agree that it was far than optimal.  I said that the reason we did not had space issue was because we were far to be at full capacity.  I confirmed with one officer and also with the Haven concierge that we were just shy of 2300 passengers on the Copenhagen to Southampton cruise.  So it was about 55% full.  For the disembarking in Southampton, I can't comment as I continued to New York City.  But totally agree with you that for the later part of the cruise (Amsterdam, Bruges and Le Havre, weather was really too cold to use the outdoor area for meals.  

2300 / 3100 = 74%

[SakeDad]

On 3/16/2023 at 10:41 AM, cheer25mom said:

Just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you SHOULD. Its unfair to those behind you in line, plain and simple. NCL likely won't stop you, but that doesn't make it the right thing to do. 

I'm sorry...I disagree (and as a former crew member as well as paying guest). First off, I hate that any venue on any ship requires guests to stand in line wasting 90 min-2 hours of their precious vacation time just to get in....but that is another discussion.

There is NO REASON 6 people need to stand in line blocking passageways and all being miserable when one person of the group is willing to do so (Personally I will never stand in line that long so you won't see me there....rather be enjoying the rest of the ship). The person waiting for the group should obviously tell those behind them there will be additional people joining before the doors open (I would NEVER suggest they save chairs inside once seated). You say "it's not a written policy"....but saving deck chairs for those not there beyond 30-60 min IS a written policy so my comparison is valid. If it's not written than YOUR interpretation is just that. And no more valid or invalid than mine.

[cheer25mom]

On 3/18/2023 at 3:03 AM, SakeDad said:

I'm sorry...I disagree (and as a former crew member as well as paying guest). First off, I hate that any venue on any ship requires guests to stand in line wasting 90 min-2 hours of their precious vacation time just to get in....but that is another discussion.

There is NO REASON 6 people need to stand in line blocking passageways and all being miserable when one person of the group is willing to do so (Personally I will never stand in line that long so you won't see me there....rather be enjoying the rest of the ship). The person waiting for the group should obviously tell those behind them there will be additional people joining before the doors open (I would NEVER suggest they save chairs inside once seated). You say "it's not a written policy"....but saving deck chairs for those not there beyond 30-60 min IS a written policy so my comparison is valid. If it's not written than YOUR interpretation is just that. And no more valid or invalid than mine.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but I feel that there is a reason, an accurate representation of how many people are in line. That way people joining the line have an accurate idea if waiting will actually get them into the venue. 

 

I don't mind waiting in line foe something like these smaller venues, assuming the process is fair. Making it large enough for everyone fundamentally changes the experience. I do however object to waiting in line only to find out 5 minutes before being let in that several people up the line are  placeholders for a large groups, so I won't be getting in. It's not practical to expect that everyone doing this should inform the entire line, and if everyone does it people behind them have no way of knowing if they are waiting in vain. It's happened to us several times now and its not fun. The only way to really know how long the line is would be a virtual que, or having everyone who wants a seat wait for one. 

[cfitch]

Is there a thread that discusses the 3rd ship in this class? I did search and didn’t see anything. 

[JIMESOPUS]

30 minutes ago, cfitch said:

Is there a thread that discusses the 3rd ship in this class? I did search and didn’t see anything. 

Not yet, the Viva thread died out, there were some photo's showing the blocks being assembled for #3

 

[CruizinSusan70]

34 minutes ago, cfitch said:

Is there a thread that discusses the 3rd ship in this class? I did search and didn’t see anything. 

No thread.  It's pushed back to 2025 and supposedly will be slightly larger than the first two.  There will be a few tweaks with the Viva and with the pushback there will probably be many more with #3.

[deliver42]

From what I understand, the 3rd ship will be 10% larger, and the 4th 20% larger than the Viva.